Dubai Police share story of first forensic photo

Dubai: Following the inauguration of their new state-of-the-art headquarters for the General Department of Forensic Science and Criminology, Dubai Police shared the story of the first forensic photo taken by Dubai Police, which documented a murder in 1965.

Col Arif Mohammad Obaid Bu Shaqar Al Falasi, director of Administrative Affairs at the General Department of Community Service at Dubai Police, said Dubai Police’s historical documents showed that that the first forensic photo was used to document the murder of an Asian woman, who was killed by her husband in Al Murar neighbourhood.

“The photo was taken 18 years before the first Dubai Police forensics laboratory was established in 1983. It was a personal initiative from one of the policemen who knew about the case.” he said.

Col Al Falasi said that it was considered a creative idea, because back then there was no method to document crimes with evidence to then be handed over to the court.

The policeman had come to know that a man, G.H., had killed his wife, S.B., in Al Murar, and went on his own accord to a photography studio and took the photographer along with him to the scene, to take a photo of the woman who had been stabbed with a knife.

“This was the first material evidence to be used to provide the guilt of the killer in front of the court. He was convicted and was sentenced to jail time and hard labour,” Col Al Falasi said.

The couple had a child, who was handed to the killer’s brother for care.

The documents did not give the motive behind the crime, but it documented the Asian photographer’s testimony, which was in English and was translated in court documents into Arabic, the latter being the official language used in the litigation.